Blogs from East Flanders, Belgium, Europe - page 2

Ghent After another night on the river, we woke up at the port of Ghent or Gent. I’ve seen it spelled both ways. Google prefers Gent in the English version, Ghent in Belgian. Going from the Netherlands to Belgium is a short trip but from the minute we got off the boat, there was a palpable difference that’s very hard to describe but I felt very good being in Belgium. It looked different. It sounded different. And the people were very, very, friendly though they didn’t all speak English like in the Netherlands. It seemed like the Belgians were much more like the French or Italians, loose and emotional, while the Dutch were more like the English, stiff (upper lip and the like) and proud. This is just me and those of you that have a ... read more

Hi Everyone We had a fabulous train holiday through Sweden and Norway,and we said our goodbyes to everyone,who were going in all directions of the globe We had a night in London,and next Day proceeded to catch the Euro star to Ghent via Brussels. Spent the afternoon at Ghent getting our washing done a5 the Laundramat in town and doing a bit of food shopping. In bed bed early as we were shattered!! Today we walked around the town,and then we had a boat trip through the canals ,they explained all about the buildings,fantastic old buildings. In the 2nd world war Ghent authorities asked the Germans when they came to leave the buildings alone ,in return the people of Ghent would house and feed the German troops,that is why there are very old buildings standing today ... read more

Fairytale like towns :)... read more

After a difficult day yesterday where the French socialists hampered our progress, we started off behind schedule today but Chiel did a great job playing catch up. We were woken to the throb of diesel as Chiel negotiated the now functioning locks and made progress towards Tournai. We disembarked at 10.00am where Elodie was due to take on fuel. We covered the final 8km to Tournai in good time and Henry very kindly gave us an hour to explore this wonderful town. We really enjoyed Tournai and the cathedral, undergoing a massive renovation, is truly a work of art and will be well worth a return visit after 2020 when it is complete. It didn't take some of our group long to realize that we were now in Belgium and that means chocolate and waffles!!! (Thank ... read more

Up early as usual and breakfast at the hotel. Bob and Fran joined us. With panniers packed Gus and I attempted to program the GPS devices much to the amusement of Bob. We eventually got it sorted and after bidding farewell to Bob, Fran, Bec and John we set off. Always sad to say goodbye to my brother but not as bad as usual this time. He's a legend in my eyes. The track went under the river through a tunnel but the majority of the ride was on dedicated cycle tracks which were a mixture of beautiful tracks, dirt tracks and teeth rattling cobble stone roads which not only rattled your fillings but also the Crown Jewels. Ah well! Not much call for those anyway whilst I'm overseas. Had a few operator errors with the ... read more